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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines: Islamist militants get life in prison |
| 2009-01-24 |
| (AKI) - Three Filipino Islamist rebels were sentenced to life in prison for their involvement in a Manila train station bombing in 2000 that killed 11 people. Known as the Rizal Day bombing case, it was one of the Philippines' worst terror attacks. "This serves to reinforce our faith in our justice system. Our government will make sure that justice is served, that hateful ideology never triumphs, that peace loving citizens are kept safe and that democracy continues to prosper," said Lorelei Fajardo, spokeswoman of Philippines president Gloria Arroyo. The attack against the train station was part of a series of five bombing attacks that claimed the lives of 22 people. The blasts were allegedly led by Al-Qaeda linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah bomber Fathur Roman al-Ghozi. He was shot dead by government forces in 2003 after escaping from police custody. Al-Ghozi is said to have paid one of the three convicts to carry out the attacks. The three defendants, Muklis Hadji Yunos, Abdul Fatak Paute and Mamasao Naga are members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and reportedly have links to Jemaah Islamiyah. However, under Philippines law, a life sentence lasts for a minimum of 20 years, after which a convict may be pardoned, to a maximum of 40 years. The lawyer of the three convicts will appeal the sentence. Contacts between JI and the MILF go back to the anti-Soviet campaign in Afghanistan. Links between the groups were strengthened after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, when members of JI were received in the forests of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. Although relations have been strained since 2003, experts say radical elements in the MILF still have contact with JI and that dozens of jihadists still are in Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. The MILF is the largest of several Muslim separatist groups in the predominantly Catholic country. The group has an estimated 11,000 armed fighters and has been been fighting for self-rule in the volatile south for over three decades. JI is widely considered south-east Asia's most dangerous terrorist organisation and was believed to be behind the bloodiest attacks in Indonesia. Its goal is the creation of a Muslim 'caliphate' in southeast Asia. |
| Posted by:Fred |